Is Getting Organized Worth the Time and Effort?

Welcome to my 31 Days series which will focus on cutting through the clutter of life. Before we implement any new habit or concept into our life, we need to understand the value/benefit of doing so.

If I had to narrow down the benefits of becoming more organized into one word it would be….

FREEDOM!

Freedom from stress. Clutter is stressful. Walking in from a long day at work to a house in chaos does not illicit a feeling of calm. Can you imagine the way it would feel to walk into a peaceful, clutter-free environment? It is stressful to not know where something is. Have you been late paying a bill because you misplaced it? Have you missed an appointment because you didn’t write it down? Those types of things are stressful and frequently a direct result of chronic disorganization.

Freedom from financial woes. When there is more month than money, the solution is not to find more money. The solution is to find a way to organize the money you have. Living within your means, sticking to a budget, developing a savings plan for the future- all these things require organization in the area of your finances.

Freedom from decreased productivity. When you don’t have organizing systems in place, your ability to be productive is impacted. When you have to spend ten minutes of the thirty you have available to devote to a task finding the tools you need to complete the task, your productivity is limited. Becoming more organized will allow you to spend all thirty minutes actually completing the task and you will see your productivity soar.

Freedom from bad habits. The way you become disorganized in the first place is through developing bad habits- lazy habits if you will, that over time create an environment of disorganization. It is possible (and not that difficult) to create new habits that will lead you to a more organized life.

When you put in the effort and time to become more organized, you will also experience a sense of accomplishment and renewed focus on your priorities. The benefits far outweigh the temporary pain (yes, I said pain) of changing the way you currently do things and learning more effective and productive ways to organize your time, space and mind.

I look forward to this freedom journey over the next 31 days- how about you?